Another senseless murder.....

[PS Paul]

So this hits close to home. Larry Howse, 54, was shot and killed by two thugs in his private garage at his condo in Tacoma on Saturday.http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Police-say-Tacoma-robbery-and-murder-was-likely-random-act-222454181.html

I was a friend of Larry's and have known him and worked with him for nearly 15 years.

He was a good man with two kids who helped his community and helped the less fortunate.

I am BOILING mad right now reading some of the idiotic comments below the story.

His life had meaning and his contribution to the community and he was a professional with morals and values.
He bought a gun from me a few months back to get his CPL, but I have no idea if he had it with him the night he was murdered.

When will the senseless killing end?

[firefly1957]

Sorry state of affairs with those foolish responses with my son just north of there this is very troubling to me. Prayers for Lawrence's family I hope the thugs that did this get everything they have coming .

[MtGun44]

Sorry to hear this. If you have a CCW license - EXERCISE IT - and keep your wits about you.

The most critical thing is to be in condition yellow ALL the time when out of the house, and be
armed. Many get the license and then only carry occasionally. IMO this is like only wearing your
seatbelt occasionally - it is impossible to know when you will need it.

Bill

[Bohica793]

Concealed carry is not an occasional thing. It is a lifestyle. This not only means having the weapon, but also the skill to use it properly. This means it is your inherit responsibility as a CCW to practice often and with purpose such that if the occasion arises (and we truly pray it never does), that we are prepared to judiciously deal with the situation swiftly and accurately. If you only wear it when you think you are going somewhere dangerous, then maybe you should rethink where you are going, not whether you should be armed. As Bill said, you never know when you will need it and it may be in the supposed safety of your own garage as seems to be the case in this story.

I put on my holster every morning just like I put on my pants. If I am sitting in my home office, it is on the desk next to me. If I am casting in my garage or mowing my lawn, it is with me, loaded and ready. If I leave the house, it is on my hip. When I go to bed, it or one of its sisters is on my nightstand. The best response I have heard to the question "Why do you carry a gun?" has to be "Because a cop is too heavy and I can't afford the donuts anyway".

In the screwed up, PC world we seem to be living in these days, to be unprepared to prevent death or injury to yourself or others around you is completely indefensible and inexcusable.

[John Allen]

This is what scares me the most the senselessness of it. This is exactly why I started concealed carrying. What a waste a good person is gone because of some degenerates.

[km101]

PSPaul, I am very sorry to hear about your friend and the senseless violence that took him. This should be a lesson to us all. Be vigilant and be prepared. You never know when violence will strike. No one is immune and no one is totally safe.

And Paul, for your own good and your peace of mind, do not read any more of the mindless rant that passes for commentary on the story. Most of the posters are troll who only want to aggravate someone. You will only raise your blood pressure to unsafe levels by reading that trash.

Hopefully the Tacoma PD will apprehend the criminals and give you and his family some peace!

[PS Paul]

Thanks, km. You know, Larry was not like most of us on this forum. He was not a "gun guy" and unfortunately believed what MSM tries to force down the throats of many: guns are bad and all people are alike. It was with great hesitation he approached me this past spring about buying a pistol in the first place. I wanted to help him shooting, but never got around to that moment since we were both in sporting goods and things become unbelievably hectic come April/May.

I am feeling some guilt over not spending the time with him as we'd spoken about and hoped for, but I do know I cannot be responsible for the acts of two feral savages.....

I only wish this had turned out differently and Larry were alive while the two filthy savages were both dead on the floor of that garage that evening.

His funeral is on Monday.

Thanks for the kind words, men.
Paul

[Lead Fred]

Meanwhile the big cities are getting businesses on the "Gun Free Zone" band wagon.

Crazy just does not cover it

[MtGun44]

It is unfortunate that being armed is prudent, but these savages force this on the
civilized portion. The sad part is that the majority of folks really do not want to
have to deal with this ugliness, so they pretend it is not happening.

The wonderful news is that the overwhelming majority of the time, their system
of "hide your head in the sand" actually works, because there are not large numbers
of bad people.

Unfortunately, the number is definitely not zero and some of them are truly evil and
willing to maim and kill at a whim. Then good people are hurt or killed for no good
reason.

The human condition is better now than in most of history, but still far from perfect.
The best news is that in most of the country, it is now legal to be armed for self-defense.
It is very sad to hear when good folks get killed by these barbarians, but sometimes the
good guys win.

A home invader was shot in KC a couple days ago - apparently got caught trying to hijack
a car, ran to several homes and managed to break into the garage in one home. The homeowner
arrived with his pump shotgun, and a struggle ensued. The bad guy grabbed car keys off
a key rack and went to steal the family van in the garage. The homeowner ordered
him out and the bad guy reached for his waistband (still don't know for sure if he was
actually armed) and got two loads of #5s at 4 ft range. The van is a mess, but the
homeowner and family are safe. Bad guy was (obviously) DRT.

Be safe, everyone.

Bill

[Bzcraig]

Paul, sorry for the loss of a friend. Unfortunately, I don't think it will stop until many bad guys/gals are shot and killed by folks who are legally carrying and the media plays it up so bad guys/gals second guess the viability of crime. As it is now there is no significant deterrent.

[Daddyfixit]

Very sorry to hear about your friend. My prayers go out to his family.

[41 mag fan]

I understand how you feel Paul, after my cousin was shot and killed while on a raft trip down a popular rafting river in MO 6 weeks ago.
Only way I see to ever end the violence is it starts at home....parents whether single or what need to teach their kids that life is something you just dont take. It'd take a generation....but it's got to start somewhere or the senseless killing will get worse.

[PS Paul]

41 mag, I saw your initial post about your Cousin and have done some reading on the case too. There appears to be some talk of this being a case-law precedent-setting issue with private versus public property and how it relates to the shooter's position.

The guy who murdered your Cousin looks to be a real loser, judging by the photo I saw. Sorry for your loss, my friend.
Paul

[41 mag fan]

Thanks Paul...yes i've been kind of following it myself. Wife sent me a link from MSN...they made the scrud out to be the victim not the criminal.
From my cousins wife, i got at the funeral, they were on the sandbar, her cousin went onto the grass behind a bush to take a leak...guy came down and told them to leave the sandbar...they all argued with him, he pulled up and shot Frankie...or Paul as he liked to be called.
1000 things could of been done different and he'd still be alive.
This wasn't a stand your ground case, as he wasn't being threatened.

Yes I'm sure he' and all the people owning land on the meramac have had problems with floaters. But it's not bad enough in this instance to kill someone over. Let the police handle it, by giving them a description of the group.....or stand there till they leave....not take a life, when yours or another wasn't in danger.

[firefly1957]

MtGun44 I have to disagree it is actually unfortunate that a law abiding citizen is looked at like a criminal because he wants to be safe today, that is the real crime not that bad things happen. If we did not have thousands of unconstitutional gun laws today criminal activity would not have become a life style . It is the nanny state that breeds the criminal even when we are "alone" in the great outdoors there are predators watching us some are big some are small we need to be on guard to keep from being bitten by bear or lowly spider and we need to watch for those that think they can do what they want to us because we are weaker or outnumbered as well!